


Ghosts that Bleed

by Lyzaander



Category: Psycho-Pass, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, Gen, Predetermined Crimes, cops and robbers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-05-10
Packaged: 2018-01-17 13:31:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1389496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyzaander/pseuds/Lyzaander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I did not choose to be born, to be belittled, or locked up. When a choice is offered, one gladly takes pleasure from deciding. Hunting and killing my fellow felons takes me away from an inescapable cage. A leash, however tight, beats the whitewashed walls, my dear. I do not have to make requests for non-standard items knowing that they will be rejected outright."</p><p>"But... it's wrong," is what stumbles out of her mouth.</p><p>"Clever way to put things into perspective, Jane. But a puppet that thinks it has free will is... still a puppet. We tread the fine line -as soon as we are determined to be too dangerous, we will be executed.  I will live and die within this system. It applies to everyone - even with safeguards, Inspectors can fall, and they become Enforcers in the system. I had thought Thor invincible, once."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Promised Future

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help myself. I just had to write this... thing, however unfinished and incomplete it would have been.
> 
> So here it is.

20 December, 2999  **A.D.**  (ANNO DOMINI). 

This is something that happens once in a lifetime. It's the _news_ of the century.

_Deep breath. Don't forget to smile._

“Cameras are rollin’!”

That’s her cue.

“This is Gwen Stacy, reporting _live_ from the World Headquarters, where history is about to be made.Today marks the tenth anniversary since Howard Stark’s groundbreaking announcement to the world. His vision has become our vision: a world without crime, where man and technology will come together to create a new world. The New World.”

A world without crime. No murder. Where perpetrators could be caught long before the crime could be committed, using STARKtech neural scanners to derive a Crime Corollary ( **CC** ). Numerical values and a matching colour code would then be assigned to the readings.

It’s the moment that the world has been waiting for. 


	2. Assignment

15 July, 0215  **N.W.** . 

Jane feels her consciousness slowly rise out of the darkness. Another day, she thinks. Today is supposed to be one of the most important days of her nineteen years, she knows, but she keeps her eyes closed for the moment. She could savour a few more minutes of the dark and quiet, but she’s too awake, and the Home Holographic Assistance ( **HHA** for short) knows it as well.

 **“** **Good morning, Jane. Your colour today is clear -** **azure** **, as always. The time is now 0913 hours - you have woken up seven minutes before your alarm. What are your specifications for today?”**

It’s a clear colour - the only colour that she’s ever gotten since she was five. Her forearm is placed over her eyes, and Jane sighs, “Minimalist, Tadao Ando.”

She opens her eyes as the standard white-wash walls are transformed into surfaces resembling steel, concrete and glass.

It suits her mood today. She rolls off the bed and stretches all the muscles she can possibly stretch.

“What’s on today’s agenda, Rosen?”

“ **You have a scheduled meet-up with Ms Lewis and Ms Romanoff within the broadcast area of the Ministry of Employment to receive your Vocational Aptitude Placement results.”**

 

* * *

 

“Janey-jane! Over here~” Darcy’s sing-song voice is particularly loud, but Jane has endured a few years’ worth of embarrassment already. It’s a massive cafe, and the order panel for her drink pops up as soon as she seats herself.

The topic of the day (and the days before today) is, of course, their aptitude scores. Natasha has been rated high in physical and critical thinking, and honestly it opens up a world of employment opportunities. Darcy has more or less higher than average scores in nearly every category - a valuable asset for virtually any company, so Jane isn’t worried for her best friend.

“Y’know, I’m still at awe over your results. It’s insane, how you managed to get high scores in everything _including_ Theoretical Analyses,” Darcy mentions offhandedly while watching the male waiter as he drops off Jane’s coffee, “ _and_ still get the lowest CC score ever.” She’s referring to the way that Jane’s mental state is so absurdly clear, but Jane has never had to find fault in the world around her.

Jane laughs it off, “I’m just good at remembering the answer formats…”

There’s a little more talk and banter, but all three of them are getting more nervous by the minute - this is the moment that will define the rest of their lives.

 

* * *

 

It’s in the middle of the night, but she can’t fall asleep. She reaches for her mobile. Looks for the message that outlines her future in this world. There are so many possibilities for her.

She’s qualified for virtually all the government sectors, with a triple A ranking in all.

But of the entire cohort this year, it is only Jane that qualifies for one specific job slot - Enforcement Inspector for SHIELD.


	3. Split

21 February, 0216  **N.W.** . 

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. She recites its full name in her head every morning she passes it - sometimes the acronyms are thrown around so much she has trouble remembering what they stand for exactly.

Working under probation in SHIELD is like performing sensitive experiments in utter darkness; it’s an entire seven months before she realizes that her other two friends are working in the _same government division_ as she is. It’s a shock realisation, that SHIELD utilizes psychological contracts so effectively that all three of them have not spoken a word about their actual jobs.

Darcy is in Logistics, being groomed as a potential candidate to be one of the elite Programmers, whilst Natasha is undergoing strenuous training to be an Intervention Officer. Jane, well, is an inspector in Enforcement. What their departments really are about, they aren’t really sure. Yet.

Their job titles furnish no details about their actual occupation, and everything is still classified.

Five more months before they finish their training, and get their full access to the system.


	4. Firearms

25 March, 0216  **N.W.** . 

There is a faint tingle where her skin touches the gun - it reads her fingerprints and accesses the data point on her wrist strap. A screen lights up - it overlays the receivers in her retina - and shows her the targeting system. The directionalized speaker in the gun addresses her.

_**[Authorized user identified.]** _

_**[Hello, INSP. Foster.]** _

This is STARKtech, where the guns are keyed to specific personnel. The triggers are locked and unlocked at the discretion of the Crime Corollary System (CCS), and the discharge of the gun is also controlled; ranging from disarming to lethal power.

_**[Please hold steady and aim at target.]** _

**[Status: Enforcement. Release set at Non-Lethal Paralyzer.]**

Her hands are shaking, but the aim is true - the simulator reflects the target slumping to the ground. Another pops up, and Jane feels the shift of weight of the gun as the muzzle opens up to accommodate the powered-up shot.

**[Status: Eliminate. Release set at Lethal Eliminator.]**

The top half explodes, and Jane cringes at the digital mess on the screen. Records state that Shield’s Intervention Department will get to cases before it escalates, but the training is always the worst case scenario.

Next is a group of armoured hostiles.

**[Status: Lethal Danger. Release set at Destroy Decomposer.]**

It punctures through the hard metal hull, and Jane is left looking at light shining through the perfect circle.

 

* * *

  _ **[Terminate monitoring on INSP. Foster?]**_

_**[YES.]** _

She closes the holo-display, and watches as the mirror screen closes on his as well.

“That’s one impressive recruit that we’ve managed to get this year,” Director Fury’s voice is calm - as unflappable as the day Maria was brought under his command. She has never witnessed a time that he has panicked or lost control whilst steering SHIELD.

She clears her throat, “She shows great promise, Director. Her judgement and flexibility in decisions is astounding. That is why the CCS has approved of the release of… restricted material.”

“A diamond in the rough and not cut glass, I hope.”


	5. Trigger

20 August, 0216  **N.W.** . 

“Come in.”

Jane steps from the frame of the door into the room, keeping her breathing in rhythm with her pace. Her train of thought suddenly jumps to her friends - they will also be meeting with the Heads of their Departments today as well.

Nick Fury sits in front of her - doubling as the Head of the Enforcement Department _and_ Director of SHIELD itself. It’s no secret that the Enforcement Department is the smallest in the entirety of SHIELD.

“Your results have been astounding, Inspector Foster. Today marks your first day in the Enforcement Department,” his single eye slides to the screen in front of him, and Jane and see the blinking red reflected on the black of his leathers.

“I would have liked to give you a proper welcome, but there is an emergency near Marcus Garvey Park. Head there straight away.”

Jane does a salute, and spins on her foot to walk out of the room. Her heart’s pounding like mad, and the fear devours the rest of her errant thoughts as the auto-drive takes off into the rain. There is a cryptical fear that sets her adrenaline off. There have been training simulations, but all those have been nothing but holographic targets. The gun does the job, reading the CC levels in real time, controls the output pulse of the gun, releases the safety on the trigger.

All she has to do is squeeze the trigger.

* * *

 

She is greeted by an assault of cold precipitation the moment the vehicle reaches the location. There is a wall of people before her, but Jane can see the flashing lights from the holographic mascots that the security drones are sending out.

|| _Please stand behind the demarcation lines. This is an investigation zone._ ||

She pushes her way through the mass to right in front of the zone, and flashes her electronic badge at the drone. It deactivates its hologram to let her through, and Jane walks to the little tent where Logistics is setting up their monitoring devices. Darcy isn’t there, and the only people who don’t have their hands full with equipment are staring into the dark alleyway.

Jane catches the woman’s eye, and the pretty brunette smiles, “Seems like your reinforcement has arrived, Steve.” She walks away, and Jane realises the logo on the back of the jacket - Logistics.

The man turns to look at her, and Jane can’t help but feel tiny as the man steps toward her - he’s nearly a foot taller than her. He wears a doleful smile, hand outstretched for a handshake, “Steve Rogers. You must be Jane Foster. I would have liked to meet you under different circumstances, but the fact is that the Enforcement department is always understaffed.”

There’s a blare of sound, and the two of them turn to regard the Black Maria as it pulls up at the side of the road. It’s a solid vehicle, made to keep its insides intact even after a Category Five Bomb point-blank.

“The people you’re about to meet… You can rely on them, but never trust them with your life. Unlike us, they operate on wholly different frequencies. What they are good for is assisting with capture and disposal.” There’s an odd inflection in his voice, and Jane would look at him to confirm the emotion, but the lights on the transport vehicle flash as if in warning. The firearms cabin disconnects from the vehicle, and six guns slide out from it.

The back hatch of the vehicle slides open, and its occupants come out. They are what society has labelled ‘latent criminals’ - the potential to step into the boundaries of crime. The first one who steps out is a man - a haggard appearance of sorts: messy black hair and rumpled clothes. Jane would say that he seems to have been sleepless for weeks, but his eyes are bright and alert.

The next one is an intimidatingly tall brunette. Almost as tall as Inspector Rogers, and Jane catches the glint of a silver hand underneath the thick black coat - a cybernetic prosthetic. She has the sudden impression of an animal out to hunt, as he looks about the street as if scenting prey.

The last two walk together, as different as night and tall although both of them are taller than the second Enforcer. One is blond and built like a tank while the other is sable-haired and whipcord thin. Both of them spot her at nearly the same time, and one shows an open expression whilst the other carries the hint of a smirk.

Inspector Rogers steps in front of her, “We have a new Inspector joining Division One today. Just as I am, Inspector Jane Foster is your superior. You are expected to treat her as such.”

He shifts, and that’s her cue to introduce herself, “Pleased to meet you.”

There’s little time for pleasantries; the Logistics personnel from before cuts into the half-circle, with a holo-screen beaming from her wristlet, “the target was flagged by the street scanners approximately forty minutes ago. He ignored therapy schedule requests, and evaded the Intervention Drones and escaped into the decommissioned building before us. The scanner across the street caught one last picture before he vanished at this point. There are no services or scanners inside, and the building is commonly used by illegal squatters. "

It's a fuzzy picture, but it's obvious that the man isn't alone. There's the distinctive silhouette of a person being dragged backwards, limbs flailing - an innocent party.

Inspector Rogers steps toward the building and turns around to address them, “Banner, Loki, you two are with me. Barnes, Thor, you are assigned to Inspector Foster for the moment.”

The raddled man draws his firearm without much of an acknowledgement, whilst the other fixes his smirk upon Jane, “Yes, Inspector Rogers. Best that _we_ not scare the little lady on her first day.”

His eyes are a fascinating sort of green, and Jane looks blankly at the disappearance of their silhouettes before realising that she too, has a job to do.

There is warmth in the voice that addresses her, “It is quite all right if you wish to stay here. The three of them are quite proficient in what they do.” She turns around to see the blonde behemoth address her with a smile and crinkles around impossibly blue eyes.

The other one with the prosthetic arm merely reaches for the gun, and Jane watches as his irises light up with the STARKtech sighting function.

She shakes her head, “We’d best be out there,” and draws one of the remaining two guns.

_**[Authorized user identified.]** _

_**[Hello, INSP. Foster.]** _

There is a rumble of laughter, “If you wish, Inspector. I am Thor, and the man currently leading the way is James Buchanan Barnes.”

“The name’s _Bucky_ ," are his parting words before Jane loses him to the shadows as well.

Thor leads the way, and there is a graveness to his voice, "I hope for your forgiveness in the case of offense - all the theories that you've learnt in your training will be next to useless, for practicalities are different from the theories. I suggest that you forget them, Inspector."

It jars her greatly, that this man before her is so disillusioned with life. What SHIELD and the CCS has brought, is an era of peace - no wars, and hardly any crime.

There is a split in the path, and he motions for her to clear the left passage. Her heart races - the adrenaline is coursing through her veins - and she jerks her gun to point at a shadow. The tracking system locks onto the person, and Jane breathes a sigh of relief when the scoring system shows a mere 30 at the man passed out on a crate.

**[Target is non-enforceable.]**

**[Trigger is locked.]**

She whirls around at the sound of footsteps, only to point the barrel at a wall of muscle.

**[‘THOR #######’]**

**[Registered Enforcer in SHIELD.]**

**[CCS reading of 134.]**

**[Status: Enforce at will. Release set at Non-Lethal Paralyzer.]**

There’s no last name - it’s a mess of garbled text that makes no sense at all. There’s a beat of silence, before the man rumbles a low laughter, “Easy there, Lady Foster.”

_|| This is Banner here. I’ve located our prey. Awaiting further instruction, Inspector Rogers.||_

_|| Hold your position, Banner. We will converge on all exit points.||_

|| I’m afraid that staying in position will mean life or death for the hostage. The gun is displaying a spike in readings.||

||Very well. Engage enforcement then, Banner.||

Thor’s leading the way, and Jane follows behind. He’s built like a tank, but silent as a panther - Jane wonders if she’ll eventually gain the skills that the rest of them seem to have in navigating back alleys like this.

There’s a bit of static, and then multiple persons talking on the channel at once.

|| _\----not engaged target?--- The guy’s on stimulants --- shoot again --- hostage! ---||_

**[THREAT LEVEL updated. Status: Eliminate. Release set at Lethal Eliminator.]**

There’s the shatter of glass in the distance, and Jane takes off after Thor when he runs in that direction. She’s five heartbeats too slow because of the shock from the verdict - the CCS has practically given an order for execution. There’s no trial, merely the fact that the CCS has read the man’s mind and deemed him unsalvageable for the good of humanity.

 

* * *

 

Thor’s sprint slows, and Jane edges slowly from his shadow. They’re on the flank of the criminal, but Barnes is straight out in front, drawing attention away from where Jane and Thor are. The woman is holding back sobs of fear, and where the knife shines, there are streaks of red on her neck. The man is cornered on the other side with a refuse bin and a chainlink fence to his back.

“Gimme your gun, or I’ll gut her like a fish!”

Barnes lowers his gun to the floor, and slides the gun over with his foot. It’s a calculated move - even with a CCS score that’s as clean as a whistle, the gun cannot be operated by anyone other than authorized personnel.

The quiet slide of the gun changing its internal gears matches the thug’s scramble for the gun, and Jane squints as the white-blue discharge accumulates before shooting out. It grazes the forearm of the man, and there’s a horrific moment of intrigue as the charge is absorbed through the arm into the upper torso. Everything above the waist distends, as though liquid flesh is bubbling beneath his skin, and then the bubble bursts.

The ensuing spray of blood and organs splatter on the ground, the hostage, and Barnes. Jane’s stomach turns as Barnes picks up his weapon from the ground and shakes off the amputated hand still hanging on the grip.

The woman shrieks as the bloodied gun is pointed at her, and Jane feels herself sprinting to defend her.

“Wait, stop! She’s innocent!”

She’s staring down the barrel of a gun, and she can see the glint of his mechanical hand as it compacts into a fist when the gun powers down. Barnes lowers the gun, and now it’s pointing _through_ Jane, towards where the woman should be crouched.

“Inspector Foster. Please step away from the woman. She now registers as a latent criminal on the CCS.”

Thor thunders towards her, and Jane feels a sliver of what the woman must be feeling right now; two massively built men hovering above her like malicious statues. There is a clatter along the floor and something metallic creaks. The woman has somehow scaled a section of the wall and jumped over the chainlink fence.

“Raise your gun, Inspector Foster. See what your eyes could not judge,” Jane does so, and sees the woman’s CCS score above 140. Protocol states that the woman is past rehabilitation.

Jane grits her teeth, “She’s in temporary shellshock!”

Thor and Barnes take down the fence with what seems to be nothing more than a gentle tug, but by that time the woman has already disappeared down the alley.

The three of them split up to find her.

* * *

 

The smell of kerosene is strong in the air, and Jane wonders if she is hallucinating as she pants harshly. The woman is on the floor, trembling hard as she raises a lit lighter higher. It’s a threat, to the man dressed in black before her. The woman is prepared to kill herself and her once-rescuers and now-pursuers.

The hostage has now become a threat.

**[THREAT LEVEL updated. Status: Eliminate. Release set at Lethal Eliminator.]**

Jane raises her gun. Her eyes glance to the readout at the corner of her vision.

**[‘LOKI #######’]**

**[Registered Enforcer in SHIELD.]**

**[CCS reading of 151.]**

**[Status: Enforce at will. Release set at Non-Lethal Paralyzer.]**

“Stop, Loki. She’s innocent. Just… let me calm her down.” She gets his attention, but not for long.

“Inspector Foster,an outside observer might think that your gunsight is aimed at the wrong person. I follow orders, Inspector. The gun tells me to shoot a dangerous latent criminal,” he turns his head, and returns his focus to the woman.

The woman is _terrified._

So is Jane, as she steadies her gun.

She presses down on the trigger.

 


	6. Intuition

21 August, 0216 **N.W.**. 

**“Good morning, Jane. Your colour today is clear - azure, as always. The time is now 0836 hours. What are your specifications for today?”**

It takes her a while to realise that she’s _awake_ , and not lucid dreaming. Another day, she thinks to herself everyday. She remembers the flash of light from the muzzle of her gun - Jane Foster, age twenty, Enforcement Inspector for SHIELD. Accomplishments to date: shooting fellow Enforcer on first day on the job.

Despite her inner conflicts, her colour code is still _clear_.

“Bohemian.”

Her room takes on a different aspect - beautiful cloths adorning the walls, battered and well worn furniture. One aspect of the holo-tech is that there can only be holograms where there existing functional furniture is in place.

“What’s on today’s agenda, Rosen?”

**“You have a scheduled meet up for brunch with Ms Lewis and Ms Romanoff - your work shift is slated to start at 1400 hours.”**

Jane groans. The girls are going to have a field day with what she can divulge, and then Jane will have to deal with the aftermath of shooting Loki.

* * *

“I… tackled him from the back.”

Jane has the sinking feeling that she’ll never live her entire lifetime without being reminded of her _blunder_. Her face is flaming red, and the situation is not quite looking up. Darcy’s laughter is loud enough to attract the attention of the people in the restaurant - Natasha provides some measure of support by poking her hard enough in the side to curb the laughter.

Natasha proceeds to coax the rest of the story from her, “Sneaky tackle on your fellow enforcer. What happened then?”

“He fell… face first, and got knocked out because he hit his head badly. I calmed the victim down back to a manageable CCS reading, but the rest of the team arrived.”

The woman been shot down right in front of Jane, by no one other than Inspector Rogers. The look on his face had been... stormy. The rest of the team had arrived soon after, and Thor had hauled Loki with obvious care and efficiency back onto the Black Maria.

“Deep trouble on your first day, kiddo. I’m guessing that you broken ten different protocols there,” is what Darcy has to offer.

Jane sighs. Darcy’s right - she has a multitude of reports to submit to explain herself, and has till tomorrow to finish her preparation for a short debrief to Nick Fury.

* * *

 

**COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS LABORATORY.**

The words are white upon a red surface - restricted access.

**[Hello, INSP. Foster.]**

The authentication interface reads her biometrics as well as her CCS before allowing her entry. The door slides open to reveal a room that seems to be the cross of a clinical hospital room and a high-spec supercomputer.

There’s a woman sitting in a chair before the enormous computer console that takes one entire wall. She’s typing away like a hurricane, and the screen seems barely able to keep up with her.

“Erm… Hello? I’m looking for Analyst Elizabeth Ross?”

Jane watches as the brunette turns, sharp eyes regard her for a moment, “Well, hello to you too.”

“I’m… ah. Jane Foster. I was told that I could come here to check on Loki?”

Pursed crimson lips relax into an ‘O’, and Jane watches as the stern facial expression turns into something more devious. The woman turns back to the screen, “I prefer to be called Betty. You must be the newbie who shot Loki. Hiding a scary side behind that teeny frame and cute face, huh.”

“Oh, uh,” Jane has hardly a chance to speak.

“What did Loki do this time? Pranking? Sexual harassment? His silver tongue usually gets him out of trouble. Boy gets to toe the line a little more often than the rest of us latent criminals in SHIELD do.”

Jane fails to respond, because the woman has called up a camera feed on the screen. The person in the bed is unmistakably Loki - pitch black hair and what Darcy would dub ‘a classic vampire pallor’ that matches with the sterile white sheets. He’s hooked up to a series of medical devices, and he’s still asleep.

“You got him _really_ close to the spinal column. He was as weak as pudding yesterday - won’t be daring to open that smart mouth till the day after unless he needs a jab, probably, but that’s fast even by human healing standards” Betty says, and the airy way that she says it really drives the guilt to the core of her heart.

Pulling the trigger had been the best course of action at the time, but Jane cannot help but cringe when she looks back on the event. It’s enough to make her dread coming to work everyday.

“You could sneak into the room for a little bit, though,” Betty has this… sympathetic look on her face.

Jane shakes her head, “I’d better not. I would hate to interrupt his rest. I’m up next for my shift.”

“Huh, tough luck for him then. Tomorrow then?”

* * *

 

Barnes and Thor are in the Enforcement Office when Jane clocks in. There’s an initial weird atmosphere of sorts - had Loki taken that shot, the woman would’ve been logged into permanent records as ‘beyond-rehabilitation’ - but perhaps it is just her perception; Thor smiles at her with purple-pink teeth and a pop tart in his hands, and Barnes continues to fiddle with what seems to be a plastic DIY kit. It seems to be an old school model gun of sorts, which makes sense, judging by all the other models on his workstation.

_The people you’re about to meet…_

_You can rely on them, but never trust them with your life._

_Unlike us, they operate on wholly different frequencies._

_What they are good for is assisting with capture and disposal._

Jane gives a world-shaking mental sigh, and heads to an empty work station to start on her report.

* * *

 

Banner comes in for his shift with a jovial air, “Good afternoon, everyone. Let’s hope today is another quiet d-”

The alarm goes off, and Jane’s watch has a scrolling holo-marquee:

**[Area Stress Level at Circle Seven District has increased by TWO levels.]**

“-day.”

Thor has a wicked grin, “Well, it seems that duty calls, and that Barnes and I are _off-duty_.”

Barnes puts down his gun, and looks to Banner, “D’you need a stand-in for Loki?”

Banner just winks at Jane, and she smiles back because she can sense nothing but genuine warmth.

 “We’ll be alright, Bucky.”

* * *

 

Bruce - he’s asked her to call him by his first name - is mostly relaxed, even as they make their way into the mega-shopping complex via personnel routes. There are no security drones blaring danger warnings - protocol to avoid increasing the stress levels any further.

They stop at a door to the public area, and Bruce gives her an easy smile, “Okay there, kiddo?”

Jane nods. The scanners in public areas are not priority-status, and cannot give immediate CCS readings like their guns do. The alert had been raised, but the suspect had vanished before a proper reading could be done.

“Our suspect hasn’t flagged any scanners yet, so it’s safe to say that he or she hasn’t left the complex. We’ll go in using the holo-attire, masked in the form of the mall’s mascots.”

But it also means that they’ll have no access to their STARKtech guns to read the CCS.

Bruce merely smiles reassuringly when Jane brings this point up, “This’ll wrap up without a hitch, trust me.”

* * *

 

It isn’t the CCS that Bruce uses. The gun remains holstered at his side the whole time. It’s pure _intuition_ \- nothing else - that has Bruce stepping up to a man hiding behind a pillar somewhat suspiciously.

Their target had tried to bolt the moment they approached him for rehabilitation in their holo-disguise, and then the scanners had confirmed Bruce’s hunch. He’d screamed, that he had not even _done_ the crime.

The only things that they use are the handcuffs, she watches as Bruce easily restrains the man. He’ll be kept under observation - stalking an ex-girlfriend, it seems - because this doesn’t really fall under Enforcement.

This case  falls under the jurisdiction of the Intervention Department, so they wait to hand over the case to someone from that department. She doesn’t get to see Natasha as she’d hoped, just a man with a wan smile that had shaken her hand and introduced himself as Phil Coulson.

* * *

 

The rest of the day is relatively quiet, leaving Jane’s mind racing faster than ever.

_Guns._

_CCS readings._

_Latent criminals._

It feels like a lifetime before her shift is up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A teeny expansion for GTB. I've no further plans for this one, really.


End file.
